I have a chance to buy around 50K rifle and pistol primers from a gentleman liquidating his late father's estate. Most are CCI with a fair amount of Winchester brand. The CCI pics indicate (by color) that age ranges from late 1970's to early 2000's. These are claimed to have been climate controlled stored. What do you all figure a fair, per primer, price to be?

Since I have no primers any newer than those, I don't consider them "vintage". I would pay the 2000 price for them; which was $20.

A year or so ago, I was given 5000 Alcan small pistol primers. From what I've been able to find on-line the Alcan brand died somewhere in the late '70s or early '80s.

If that's the case, they are at least 40 years old. I have no idea how they were stored.

But whatever the storage was, they work just fine in my 9mm and 38 Spl. loads.

I haven't measured them but the primers are a tiny bit more difficult to seat than are contemporary CCI, Rem, Win or Fed.

$36.00 a thousand was the average price pre bat flu and would be great now but with what they are charging now if you could get them for $50.00 or under that would be better than anything else you will find. Going price and fair are two completely
different things, todays prices are not fair.

I'm still shooting Remingtons made in the early 50's that I bought in the 70's. They still work great . I also have three different color schemes of pre 1980 CCI's and Winchesters from the 1970's. In over 50 years I have had 1 bad box of 100 primers and they were CCI's from the early 1990's.

If I could find ANY primers for as low as $50.00 per 1000, I would be thrilled. I wouldnt care if they were made in the 1950's. But that's just me.
For new, once in a while I manage to get a few from the local sportsman's Warehouse, (200 limit). The going rate is typically about $7 per 100. Scalpers in the classifieds are gouging for $100-$140 per thousand.

If you can get them for less than .05 c each, more power to you.

My absolute max would be a nickel a pop..

If the seller is even remotely aware of the current price of primers he'll just laugh at you if you offer $50/1000, and move on! Don't ask me to make an offer, tell me how much. Then I'll decide if I will buy, or not.... Or, maybe I'll make a counter offer then.

The less I pay the happier I am. Having some primers regardless of the price is better than having none if I need them. Most stuff I sell (seldom) or trade is based off what the replacement cost is to me.

Local to me store; CCI #350 LPM primers:
12-16-22 $6.99
12-23-22 $7.99
1-7-23 $8.59

At $5.00 a box I'd be very happy to buy. I have some very old primers that I come across from time to time. They have all worked fine...mostly CCI. If I had any doubts about their condition I'd ask to pop off a couple of the pistol primers in empty cases in a revolver.

As with any negotiation, I'd want him to state his price first. You can always counter-offer and try to reason with them. He may be totally unaware of the current price and offer them to you for $30 per thousand.

Thanks for the advice. Got a decent offer and took it.

Primers are selling for a buck apiece in Idaho gun shows and none exist in the stores as yet..Cheaper when purchased from Brownell's and others, but add a hazmat to there price plus shipping and tax, and you have just been hornswoggled..$%0.0 a 100 seems to be the deal these days locally in most areas and thats a hand to hand..

Ray
Are you saying that a box of 100 primers are going for 100.00 and a brick of 1000 for 1000.00 dollars up there?

no they ain't.

they just ain't showing up and if they do it's at stupid prices.

how stupid?
when they are at sportsmans warehouse [normally the highest] they are like 55$ a Brick sold mostly as 100 packs for 5-6$

the other places want 10$ per hundred.

Yesterday at reds trading post a 100 pack was priced at $112 dollars for Federals and a buck $100 for CCI.....

Lat gun show was $100 per $1000.

Powder was $50 to 150 per pound. I doubt it all sold.


Powder now available is $39.99 to $42.00 a lb. but lots of it has showed up all over Idaho.

I think people are getting the math wrong. Most likely what they are seeing is $100 per Thousand, which is highish but not stupidly high in this market. As a benchmark, ammunition manufacturers have been paying $60-65/thousand is multimillion count orders recently.

No math wrong, just gouging, but all components are starting to come down...Powder was $150 a pound for awhile this winter. I don't know if this stuff sold or not..Fed 210 and 215 primers is still high dollar, supply and demand..CCI has showed up and at reasonble cost for LR anyway.

I've wondered about older primers too. Does the priming compound deteriorate with age? It sounds as though it probably doesn't--at least very much--from the responses on this thread.

The primer price situation is, if anything, worse here in Canada. There are none to be had (particularly large rifle primers) from the usual commercial suppliers, and they are going for about $500/1000 Cdn (or about $370/1000 USD) from the profiteers on buy & sell sites.

quote:

Originally posted by South Pender:
I've wondered about older primers too. Does the priming compound deteriorate with age? It sounds as though it probably doesn't--at least very much--from the responses on this thread.

The primer price situation is, if anything, worse here in Canada. There are none to be had (particularly large rifle primers) from the usual commercial suppliers, and they are going for about $500/1000 Cdn (or about $370/1000 USD) from the profiteers on buy & sell sites.

I have bricks of primers from the 1960's, '70's, '80's that I've bought from estate sales. Winchester, Remington, CCI, they all go bang. The only primer misfire I've ever had was from a primer made in the last 10 years.

quote:

Originally posted by South Pender:
I've wondered about older primers too. Does the priming compound deteriorate with age? It sounds as though it probably doesn't--at least very much--from the responses on this thread.

The primer price situation is, if anything, worse here in Canada. There are none to be had (particularly large rifle primers) from the usual commercial suppliers, and they are going for about $500/1000 Cdn (or about $370/1000 USD) from the profiteers on buy & sell sites.

Yes I have seen those ridiculous prices on the gun buy and sell sites. Makes me glad I stock piled over the years and do not have to worry about buying anything right now.

As for primers with some age on them...I am currently using primers from the 80's and have had zero problems with them. Doesn't seem like I bought them 40 years ago...man how time flies.